North Shore path ideas exchanged

PRINCEVILLE — Fitness buffs, health advocates and the environmentally conscious were among those who attended Thursday evening’s North Shore Bike and Pedestrian Path meeting at the Prince Clubhouse.

After North Shore residents got together and raised their voice in support of creating a network of pathways nearly a year ago, ideas have begun to blossom, and a grassroots effort is currently underway.

Thursday’s event was organized as a means to gather as much community input as possible and so far, the benefits of a multi-use path are outweighing potential challenges, according to several participants.

“It’s a good, low-cost means of transportation and a healthy and environmental way to connect communities and neighborhoods,” said Brad Parsons, a North Shore resident and an advocate of the proposal.

“The bicycle is the most efficient form of ground transportation there is,” said Kaua‘i Path Board of Directors Secretary Thomas Noyes, who helped the Eastside’s Ke Ala Hele Makalae — “The Path that Goes by the Coast” — gain a foothold. “Obesity, coronary disease and sedentary lifestyles are some of the biggest health threats that we face as a nation, and everybody could use more exercise.”

Ben Welborn of Landmark Consulting is in the process of creating the North Shore Path Alternatives Report, which will explore the advantages, opportunities and feasibility of a pathway that would connect the communities of Kilauea, Princeville and Hanalei.

“It will identify a lot of the issues that need to be addressed,” Noyes said. “There are a number of options that may be very ambitious to undertake, but if we take up the challenge, the benefits are inspiring.”

Some of the expected challenges would be devising links between Princeville and Hanalei and between Princeville and Kilauea where existing bridges are not safe for unmotorized travelers to cross, as well as negotiating and communicating with North Shore landowners.

“There are some very logical places where rebuilding a bridge with something that could accommodate bicycles and pedestrians — a modest bridge — would open up a connection,” Noyes said.

An example would be Kalihiwai, where he said existing abutments from a bridge that was washed out during the 1946 tidal wave would “afford a connection where there is currently none and utilize an old right of way.”

Born and raised on the island, Welborn said he is glad to have the chance to help develop the plan and believes the project will garner strong community support.

County council member Tim Bynum, just one of many governmental proponents of the multi-use path, was in attendance Thursday.

“I can’t think of a project that’s a better win-win situation,” he said. “It preserves access for local people and visitors, improves safety for pedestrians, children and people with disabilities. It also provides an alternate transportation from fuel and putting carbon in the environment and helps people connect in the community.”

Participants at the meeting were also invited to take part in an exercise where they were allowed to draw on a blank map the route in which they perceived to be the most appropriate.  

“We will look at the topography, river crossings, ecological resources and private land ownership and all of the existing conditions to tell us the path of least resistance,” Welborn said in a phone interview Saturday.

Welborn expects the North Shore Path Alternatives Report to be completed by September or October and encourages the community to voice their opinions after it is finalized at another public gathering to be announced in the coming months.

“It’s time to make the investment in our children’s future,” Noyes said.

For more information on Kaua‘i Path, visit www.kauaipath.org

For more information on Bike Plan Hawai‘i, which outlines statewide plans to accommodate and promote bicycling across the islands, visit www.state.hi.us/dot/highways/bike/bikeplan

•Coco Zickos, business writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or czickos@kauaipubco.com